About the session
The role of finance in enhancing supply chains is outlined by the speaker. He presents a pro-manufacturing view from the banking sector. Barclays has 100 relationship directors, with an average of 18 years in arranging financial assistance to companies in his sector, which includes transport. The speaker emphasises the choice of financial products that are available to companies beyond normal bank loans, including the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme, Business Growth Fund and the National Loan Guarantee Scheme, as well as support for exports. While Barclays has a large number of lending commitments in the sector, demand for borrowing is flat because of a difficult environment where half of UK exports go to the troubled Eurozone. The value of sterling, still low against the Euro, is likely to rise in the next 12 months but this will not have a strong effect on exports because it’s unlikely to even get close to pre-2008 levels. Barclays is focused on working capital management to assist companies paying high prices for raw material and incurring other costs just to stay in business, especially as the ‘new normal’ for payment terms today is often 60 days or more.
